Luvo Manyonga leaps into record
SOUTH AFRICA’S long jump king Luvo Manyonga conquered the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast yesterday, and then promised to get back to work on winning more accolades.
Manyonga took gold, with compatriot Ruswahl Samaai finishing third to give South Africa a gold-bronze haul in the same event.
In his Commonwealth Games debut, Manyonga again proved his star status by leaping to a new Games record of 8.41m.
Also on the podium was javelin veteran Sunette Viljoen, who highlighted her class by winning her fourth consecutive medal at the Commonwealth Games.
The South African javelin queen now boasts a golden pair from Melbourne 2006 and Delhi 2010, silver from Glasgow 2014 and yesterday’s bronze.
Manyonga said after his event: “It is a medal in the bag and I am going to go back home and start working again because I am like a normal person going back to work and going to the office”.
“It is very important winning the gold medal at my first Commonwealth Games and getting the record as it was on my bucket list, and now I still have the Continental Cup as a box to tick.”
Manyonga led after his opening jump of 8.24m, with Samaai in second place with his first attempt of 8.22m.
World champion Manyonga was briefly relegated to silver-medal position thanks to Aussie Henry Frayne’s second-round jump of 8.33m.
Manyonga recorded a no-jump on his third attempt before moving back into first place with a new Commonwealth record of 8.35m.
On his final jump, the South African landed a 8.41m effort to extend the Games mark, and added the Commonwealth gold to his Olympic silver from Rio 2016.
Samaai battled with consistency on the night, winning his second consecutive Commonwealth bronze. “I came here with a lot of expectations knowing I am capable of jumping big, but unfortunately I didn’t tonight,” Samaai said.
“But I am always happy getting a medal; coming to the Commonwealth Games. I had the bronze from 2014 and I wanted to upgrade it to gold or silver.
“Unfortunately, it is part of sport, you win some, you lose some and you just have to keep your head up high and get back to the drawing board.”
Viljoen once again proved her temperament for the big moment winning the medal in only her second competition of her season with an opening throw of 62.08 metres.
“I only had one competition before the Games, I couldn’t have done anything more technical-wise,” Viljoen said.
“I prepared to the best of my ability and what my body was capable of, and so you can’t be unreasonable.
“I am so happy that I walk away with my bronze, I am very proud, I just need to get my timing, which will slowly come back, working towards the Doha World Championships next year.”
Viljoen failed to land throws of more than 60 metres with her remaining five attempts as she hung on in the silver medal slot until the very last round.
Kathryn Mitchell produced the goods in front of her home crowd, pretty much wrapping up the gold with a mammoth 68.92m as the rest of the field battled to breach the 60-metre mark.
With her throws falling just short of 60m, Viljoen had Australian Kelsey-Lee Roberts breathing down her neck with a best attempt of 60.81m. Roberts relegated Viljoen to third place with a final heave of 63.89m, with the South African unable to match the throw.
Paralympic javelin throw gold medallist Reinhardt Hamman added to the athletics medal tally by winning the bronze medal in the men’s F38 shot-put final with a best heave of 13.15m.
Hamman finished third behind Australians Cameron Crombie and Marty Jackson, who won gold and silver with 15.74m and 13.74m respectively.
“I am thrilled with the result, I was pushing for the silver medal and I wasn’t too far, I’ve been throwing around 14 metres in training back home,” Hamman said.
“We can go home with our heads held high. To be included in the Commonwealth Games which is a predominantly able-bodied event is a real eye-opener for all of us as para-athletes. I don’t feel like a para-athlete, I feel like an able-bodied athlete and we can just hope the Commonwealth Games Federation can include more para events in future.”